It’s Official
It’s that time in the legislatures across the country when things get official.
Done in dead solemn seriousness, official crap carries about the same level of debate as a declaration of war.
In Texas, one of our state representatives wants to name the cowboy hat as the official hat of Texas.
If the resolution passes, the cowboy hat will join a stupefyingly long list of other official state symbols – including the pecan tree (State Tree), the jalapeño (State Pepper), the Dutch Oven (State Cooking Implement), and Sideoats grama (State Grass).
Texas has two separate state shrubs (the crape myrtle and the Texas sage) and two separate state pastries (strudel and sopaipillas). There are three state mammals (the Longhorn, the Mexican free-tailed bat, and the armadillo) – and that’s not counting the official state dog breed (Blue Lacy) and horse (American quarter horse). There’s a state domino game (42), a state squash (pumpkin), and a state waterlily (Nymphaea Texas Dawn).
In Tennessee, though, things got heated when a legislator decided to introduce a bill making the Bible the state book of Tennessee. I was shocked, shocked I tell you, that anybody in Tennessee could read.
Even the Republican Attorney General warned that this was a clear violation of separation of church and state. But, nope, they wanna do it anyway.
“There are some things that are worth standing up for,” said Rep. Andy Holt, a Republican. “Markets, money and military are meaningless without morals. I think it’s time for our body to make a stand.”
But there was some naysayers. Just not the kind you’d expect.
Several lawmakers raised concerns about putting the Bible on par with innocuous state symbols such as the official salamander, tree and beverage.
“Pilgrim’s Progress is a book, To Kill a Mockingbird is a book,” said Rep. Patsy Hazlewood, R-Signal Mountain. “The Bible is the word of God, it’s a whole a whole different level.”
Yeah, I guess being the official state book of Tennessee is kinda shameful.
Thanks to Auntie BFly for the heads up.
Y’know … I guess I missed JJ’s blogging of the recent announcements of a cure for cancer and AIDS, and the emotional scene in DC when the T Party buried the hatchet with the Dems and agreed to move forward united under the leadership of the sitting POTUS. Cause really all that stuff and real solutions to similar have the gravitas to warrant legislative time. This doesn’t. It’s shallow. It’s without content. It’s without merit. It’s a waste of Tennessee’s limited oxygen supply.
1SO will they create a new category called the Tennessee Official Word of God? Nominees could include the Torah, the Koran, Dianetics and the Book of Mormon?
Which raises another question: which Bible? The Catholic Bible is clearly superior to all other canons, but which translation?
2Which version? Now you have a huge issue between Douay – Rheims, King James, Revised Standard, Plain English, American Standard? There are over 50 different versions of the Bible and many more Christian factions invested in their own version.
3I guess, like true rwnj’s, freedom of religion means only THEIR freedom and THEIR religion. Henry VIII must be laughing in his grave. “Off with their heads!”
I had a library patron some years ago who wanted a Bible. I gave her a King James…she looked through it and handed it back. “”Ah want one in English.”
Earlier this year I had an elderly lady call and ask if I could read British…King James again.
4You forgot the state nut – Ted Cruz!
5Kate’s story reinforces my belief that at least 95% of TN House members – oh heck, make that 95% of all RWNJs – don’t know that the Bible has gone through multiple versions.
6What bok will Texas have? A coloring book or a comic book?
7The only true bible for wingnuts is “Guns and Ammo” magazine. In Tennessee they wear white pointy hats and sheets while spanking the monkey to photos of scantily clad ARs and AKs.
8BMT-you’d have to call them state mixed nuts and add a plethora of wingnuts to Cruz name to be accurate.
9My knowledge of cowboy style hats is rather limited. (I favor the Aussie “Digger” style.) But as I recall from watching a lot of Bonanza, Maverick, The Rifleman, Wanted Dead or Allive, etc., there are many different styles of hat worn by various characters all of which would fit my naive interpretation of “cowboy hat”.
10Corinne Sabo, Daffy Cruz Jr. already has a coloring book. Maybe he needs to take it to the Texas legislature as the “official” book.
It’s no wonder Raphael couldn’t make it in Canada. In Canada sane folks understand the importance of universal medical care and the crazy of the BuyBull crowd. They know hate literature and st00pid when they see it.
e platypus onion, who knew? Tennessee is all hot over Arkansas and Alaska. Republican diversity at it’s best.
Eagerly awaiting for Rep. Andy Holt to blend his “moral military” with “thou shalt not kill.”
11May I nominate Tom DeLay as the State Slime Mold?
12Markets, money and military. Oh boy.
13Dave, a larger petri dish is needed or Loopy Louie will be butt hurt at his exclusion.
Oops, sorry folks for invoking the name of he whose name should not be spoken. 1…2…3 …. he’s baack!
14Considering a certain trial they had a few years back, I’d like to nominate The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin as Tennessee’s official state book. Schoolchildren should be required to read it, or at least a good and accurate summary. Its advantages over the other proposal include that it was originally written in English, people have not gone to war repeatedly over which edition to prefer, and it does not contain scenes of genocide, rape, incest, murder, human sacrifice, and worship of a deity who did or endorsed all of those things. And it contains some beautiful poetry:
“Thus, from the war of nature, from famine and death, the most exalted object which we are capable of conceiving, namely, the production of the higher animals, directly follows. There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.”
15What? I thought Dubya was the state Shrub.
16“My Pet Goat” should be the official Republican book — of any State. As long as you read it upside down.
17And then there’s this – which version of the Bible? There are several to choose from. A lot of them aren’t even in English. I think that is where this idea is gonna drop dead. Somebody has to make a decision on the subject and no matter which way they fly, there’s gonna be war!
18But the buyBull makes sense as the state book…..you said….I was shocked, shocked I tell you, that anybody in Tennessee could read.
19Well its the one book very few xtians ever read.
I nominate Louie Gohmert for State Jackass. This is a tough one because there are a lot of contenders for the title.
20Please folks not all us people from TN are wack jobs. They even did a poll asking what we thought of the idea of making the bible the official book of the state. I said hell no. Don’t they believe in separation of church and state? Then again they have those snake handler preachers. That says alot about TN. Also remember there was this idiot that got a bill that they couldn’t say “gay” in school system. Crazy I know. Even thou am a dem we do have a governor that is reasonable at times. But what can you say only in TN, and probably most red states we haven’t seem to progess much out of the 19th century. They are happy that way.
21I get a lot of wing-nut spam. This am got email inviting me to sign up for “biblically-based health care insurance.”
Of course nobody in Bible knew about germs, tho they did have an inkling that keeping clean was a good idea.
I think “biblically-based health care insurance” is the last thing I want to sign up for.
22I’d vote for the bible being the official book of record to hold doors open and prop up uneven table legs. I’d even go along with it being the book of choice to incinerate at book burnings because of all the nasty stuff in it.
23The Bible bill is one of the least noxious the EvangeliBaggers have put up this session. Pray for us.
24DesJarlais is surely the state’s official something or other. Just don’t know what.
25I suggest The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language, created by Eugene H. Peterson. My favorite reading version, but I’m sure many RWNJ’s would be horrified by much of the “contemporary language.” (I also have study bibles in most of the English language versions mentioned above.)
Old Mayfly, I received that email spam about biblically-based healthcare insurance.
26The TN state senate killed that bill today. Thank God.
27When they say “Bible”, rwnj’s are only referring to the Old Testament. The New Testament contains too many restrictions on their religion of hate and violence.
28As a former North Dakotan, now Virginian, I will weigh in on the state gemstone of Texas, the rhinestone. I guess that leaves the sequin as the state gem of Nevada or something. ( I actually favor both)
29maryelle, I believe you are correct. They think that the laws from the Old Testament are from Jesus. The New Testament is way too liberal for them.
I promise there are literate, liberal people here, but we are seriously outnumbered.
30Hey, don’t forget the work of yours truly who passed the bill that made the guitar the Official State Instrument. I know, I know, the official state instrument should have been a guys body part.
I had great help on it by Willie, Jerry Jeff Walker and a whole slew of Texas musicians.
Great fun. And nobody died because of it.
31Don’t be tacky, Linda. As all true blue Texans know, the official state gem of Texas is actually the Texas blue topaz. If you don’t believe me, find a copy of the 2014-2015 Texas Almanac and take a peek at page 23. On that page and a terribly large number of adjacent pages, there is a ridiculous number of official state symbols, ranging from “State Epic Poem” to “State Shoe” to “State Snack.” If these seem ridiculous to you, just remember that if the Lege is busy considering such trivialities, they aren’t spending our money. Or draining money out of education and health care.
32Biblically-based health insurance could be real cheap. All you do is pray. Some people try that. Okay if they want to, but not okay when it kills their kids. Sometimes more than one per household.
33linda phipps, as a former North Dakotan you must have visited Las Vegas, NV to think of the sequin is our state gem. The state gem is actually the black fire opal from Virgin Valley, up here in the northwestern part of the state where we hick ranchers live.
Cliven Bundy lives down south near Las Vegas. I hear he’s real partial to duding up like Nugent and wears ammosexual accessories.
Glen Maxey, spent some time in your land of large saloons with the mechanical bulls. The guitar seems a good choice.
But the streets, man! Whats with those large cars with the El Toro horned front ends? Crossing the streets is tougher than running with the bulls. Those lights that say “walk” need replacing with “run for your life.”
34Pity that the folks supporting the Official State Hat movement have no cattle…
35“Markets, money and military are meaningless without morals.” I think most of the GOP would beg to differ!
36PKM, I have never been to Nevada, if I had I would have wasted my time visiting things like dams and such. I stick with my Las Vegas sequin thing, with the tassel as the state bird. All prejudice, but nobody gets hurt.
37New Testament or Old?
38Black fire opals from Virgin Valley are really lovely, PKM.
39